Tuesday, February 23, 2016

We now know the GOP Establishment's game plan, writes Steve McCann at American Thinker:

The Republican Establishment has finally exposed their game plan for the 2016 presidential nominating process. Go all out for Rubio, destroy Cruz’s character and set up a one on one between Trump and Rubio.

If Rubio cannot win the nomination outright, then make certain that the entire process ends up in a brokered convention. They are convinced that Trump, as he appears to have a ceiling of around 35-40% among Republican voters, easily can be defeated by another candidate.

The question is who, and their overwhelming answer is Rubio, as the donor class is opening up their wallets and the endorsements of establishment politicians are flowing.

But that game plan, even if successful, may not end well for the GOP.

"Marco Rubio is the epitome of the perfect candidate of the Ruling Class," McCann writes, "as he will perpetuate their strangle hold on the levers of power and will insure that their standard of living and status will not be threatened."

Is Trump a viable alternative? Perhaps not.

McCann writes, "I do not support Trump for various reasons having to do primarily with his unbridled narcissism as well as not being able to fully trust who he is, as he has been and still is on both sides of the political spectrum on virtually every issue.”

McCann concludes with a warning that GOP Washington elites will surely ignore, based on their previous performance.

"If the Establishment succeeds in foisting Marco Rubio on the Republican electorate at the expense of both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz," McCann writes, "the Republican Party will end up on the ash heap of history. There will be a political earthquake."

Friday, February 5, 2016

A new NBC/Marist poll finds Donald Trump with a 13-point lead in New Hampshire, down 6 points from the middle of January. With the state voting Tuesday, Trump has 30 percent support, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) with 17 percent and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) with 15 percent.

Trump's support is unchanged from two earlier NBC polls of the Granite State, going back to the beginning of January. Trump's lead has shrunk as both Rubio and Cruz have gained support in the past two weeks.

Rubio has gained 6 points since mid-January, while Cruz has gone up 3 points. Rubio's support is still fluid, however, as 13 percent of his supporters say they could still change their mind. Only 6 percent of Trump and Cruz supporters say they might change their mind.

"John Kasich and Jeb Bush round out the top five in New Hampshire, with 11 and 10 percent respectively," Breitbart reports. "Their support is also unchanged from the middle of January."